I wrapped my arms around my stomach and rocked gently, fighting down nausea, wishing I could hold Thor close and rock him. Pet him. Touch him. He was hurting and he was out there alone. I should be with him. That stupid asshole. What the fuck was he thinking, leaving me like that? I’d Kung Fu the crap out of him once he was back in my bed, where he belonged.
I was having a meltdown, but Trinity didn’t notice. And her voice was crisp, cool, completely under control. “What’s his reasoning? To what, get us out of the picture? But if that’s all he wanted, he would have left us alone. Mom was gone for almost thirty years. There was no reason to think she’d ever come back. So, why risk everything now?”
“He can’t be king if she’s alive,” I countered. “The citadel knows. Her spire was still lit, so the whole planet knew she was still alive.”
She couldn’t argue with that.
“But why kidnap her? He could have just killed her on Earth. Much easier.”
I shrugged, for I had no answer.
“Didn’t he have you in custody?” she asked.
“Lord Wyse?” I nodded. “He was about to take me to some special place at the Optimus unit, but Thor got me out of there.”
“Oh shit, that was close, wasn’t it?” She paused. “That means Wyse knows you’re a princess.”
I thought back to my time with the Optimus unit, and reviewed every word I could remember. “He did seem very interested in the fact that there was no official record of my existence.”
“Exactly. He’s not stupid. And he could have taken your DNA off of anything to test it. They had full access to the Jax house. I’m sure Lady Jax would give him anything he asked for. A hairbrush. Toothbrush. Clothes. Whatever. He must have figured it out.”
“Probably.” I didn’t have proof to say officially. “Which means he was most likely the one who ransacked Thor’s apartments, hoping we’d be there so he could get me back into custody. He was going to take me to some horrible torture chamber or something. He said as much.”
“So, I’m sure he’s looking for Destiny. God, Faith. You were so close to being—” She stopped, apparently unable to complete the thought. Being a good little sister, I did it for her.
“Dead. One princess down, two to go.”
She scowled. “That’s not funny.”
“No. But we’re both still alive and Destiny is still hiding out as a nun.” I thought of the pain on Thor’s face. The shock and confusion in Lord Jax’s eyes as he’d fallen victim to the poison. About what everything Mom must have gone through all those years ago. “But now we know. Now we go after him. Bring him down and get Mom back.”
She laughed. “Right, arrest the head of the Optimus unit.”
“You are the princess,” I countered. “And if he kills Mom—”
“Don’t even say it.”
“If he kills Mom, you’re the new queen and I’m the runner-up.”
“He’d going to try again to get to you. To kill you. You’re still a princess.”
“But only a few people know about me. Lord Wyse won’t tell anyone. It’ll be easier for him to kill me if I’m an unknown rather than a princess.”
Trinity sat back down, some of her frustration falling away. “It is a pain being the center of attention.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. Pretty gowns, a gorgeous hunk at your side. Total pain.”
She smiled then. “Total.”
It hadn’t even been a day since Thor and I left the palace for the Jax mansion, but still, I missed Trinity, so I said as much, then added, “I miss Earth. Well, not Earth exactly, but our life there. Mom. Dad. Even Destiny.”
Trinity squeezed my hand again and smiled wistfully.
“Me, too. But I’ve got Leo now and Mom will be found. Maybe Dad will come here… after we get things sorted out.”
I thought of Dad on Alera, as Mom’s king. It was hard to picture, but so was everything else that had happened since Mom had been kidnapped.
“Destiny’s a freaking nun. Talk about weird,” I said.